lupinbunny

Oops. Guess it's only the protein we'll be watching for. The fat doesn't seem to be causing any problems

Hello, I'm far from being a regular here, but have to speak up. We swapped our dogs off barf and onto BH because one of them has chicken/ beef allergies (we're not sure which, and he was so unhappy on an elimination diet that we never managed to properly test them both out individually, so we just avoid both for now), and BH was one of the relatively few foods on the market that is free of chicken and beef and wheat (another thing we avoid for both our dogs). So we are thrilled to pieces with the lamb and rice! And the barf-from-birth dog (the one without allergies) finds this dry food very palatable (she's avoided other dry foods). When the emu oil was added I thought it was a bit of marketing nonsense, but it has definitely made their coats softer. Very happy about that. If you were looking at adding flavours, we'd be interested in something with seafood (preferably sardines over salmon or tuna, for environmental reasons ), and i"d be pretty keen to see a roo flavour (certainly would be unique!). For us personally, we wouldn't buy any flavour with beef or chicken ingredients. Just figured I'd mention it because I'm sure some customers out there like BH because it's beef/ chicken/ wheat free, like we do.

Mm. Yeah, I am pretty (extremely!) unhappy at his previous owners for sending him to a shelter rather than putting in the work with him or making the difficult decision to pts. Palmed off their responsibility to us. Grrrr.... anyway. We have him now, it's not like noone warned us (sort of), and we are willing to work with him. He does have many redeeming features. He is beautifully obedient in non-food situations, very sooky and affectionate... Ugh. Tough situation. Persephone, thanks for the recommendation. I like our trainer, but might contact Kathy, as I only know our trainer as a trainer, rather than a problem-behaviour-corrector. Erny: Oh no, I don't want to think of it that way! Damn sneaky dog! Nekhbet: No offence taken! We got such an easy run with the puppy that we didn't really consider how difficult a difficult adult dog might be. Eesh.

Just thought I'd bump this up. Thanks for everyone's advice and help. We're still working on hand-touch (our other pup, Lola is great at it), but sadly Buddy ain't the brightest spark Poor boy. You can see the cogs turning... it's taken me three months of (on-off) training to teach him to give paw. Poor dear learned that "yes!" = food, but just did not connect what it was that made me say yes. And even now his paw is so slow and deliberate. "She's holding her hand out... hmm... no food in it... what ever might she want? Wait... there's something I do here... ah. yes. I remember now." *lifts paw* Anyway, I'd love love love some practical tips on how to deal with resource guarding. That is, how to make him feel safe and secure when he has food. Twice in a fortnight I've been bitten on the hand when I got too close to his bone. Last night was a nasty shock, as I was just flicking away some dirt near him, and he's done a good job of ripping up my thumbnail *pity party* We've started giving him an additional treat when we go near him when he has a bone. I was thinking of crating him when he has a bone. We haven't used the crate very much, as we're not too used to it (Lola haaaaaates it), but he seems comfortable enough there, and seems to like enclosed spaces. Good idea? Or no?

well, there's been no more face-dive/ nipping incidents! So far so good! The odd bit of mouthing that's corrected straight away (when he wants to play). There have been some dominance spats between Buddy and Lola... I'm letting them sort that out unless Buddy is being just too cranky (pretty sure he used to be an only dog. He's crazy resource-protective). I got a snap at the face for trying to pick Buddy up when he didn't want to move but that's my own fault, plus no teeth connected. I know he's actually too heavy for me to lift easily, and he doesn't like being carried, and at the time he didn't want to move, and I can move him easily by guiding him with his collar, but no... I still tried to pick him up anyway. Just different to little miss Lol, who gets scooped up and deposited in the garden if she's being recalcitrant.

Spottychick: he was there last weekend when we got buddy. He's with Poundwatch in Perth. I didn't see him/ her as they only bring out 'suitable' dogs, and a dalmatian is definitely not suitable for our courtyard! :lol: Monah: yeah, he does understand 'off', which is very, very cool. Well, he follows the hand gesture at least, don't know about the word alone. Two thumbs up to his previous owners! This morning in desperation for his breakfast he sat, then dropped, then rolled over! So I think I'll have to revise my previous 'basic training' assessment. Anne: I think what you're describing is what's happening. Not sure if it's affection/ play/ what it is... but the physical description sounds right.

Thanks guys. We do know an excellent trainer (the other pup went through puppy pre-school and beginners obedience with her), and I am bearing it in mind as an option. I think he is still settling in and finding his place with Lola, as well as us. I've started with the triangle of temptation stuff, to make him focus on me... Seems he's fairly reluctant to listen to me. He was on the couch last night and I was standing there telling him 'off' with the hand gesture. Tried three or four times, calmly... he wasn't even looking up. Partner walks over and says it once, and off he goes, straight off the couch! I'm sure I'll get some disapproving looks for this, but when I tried again to make him listen my partner told me to grab his collar and guide him off the couch if he wasn't listening. I was reluctant, but it did make him move, and since then he's been listening to my 'off' command! Really, he should have credit for following point signals. Try as we might Lola has never quite gotten the idea of following a point. So I think all round I need to work on being seen as an authority figure (or whatever the right term is... you know. That's it's appropriate and worthwhile to listen to me). By 'growling' at him, I mean saying something like "No! You are not allowed to do that!" in a low-pitched voice. Spottychick: when we went to get Buddy the shelter lady told us they had a beautiful dalmation that noone wanted, because it had a heart murmur. I asked if it was the cost of medication that was the problem, and she told us that it didn't even need medication! People just didn't want a 'sick' dog. Poor thing.

Hi everyone. Long time lurker, first time poster. My partner and I recently (in the past week) adopted 17.5kg of four year old male pug x (!) as a friend for our 10 month old crossbreed. We were warned before we got him that Buddy was surrendered to the shelter because he had bitten the child of his previous owner on the lip badly enough to need stitches. Apparently the family were extremely distraught, and emphasised that it had happened during play, when there were lots of kids running round with the dog at a get together. He had also mouthed the kids in the face a few other times. Fair enough, we thought. Lack of supervision and guidance about appropriate behaviour, combined with excitement. He's a very people-oriented (and food motivated) boy, very sweet and sooky as a general rule. Knows sit and to walk on a leash, not much else. Working on making him wait for his dinner until we tell him he can eat, and stopping him jumping up. Making excellent progress. Focusses on my partner much more than me. In the first 24 hours he was a little prone to lunging at people's faces when he met them, but not making contact. Growling at him/ withdrawing attention seems to have dealt with this. Once or twice while in a playful mood he has mouthed at my fingers while wiggling round on his back for a belly-scratch. Definitely showed bite inhibition. Also does his best to move his mouth away from my fingers if I peel back his lips to look at his teeth (to check cleanliness, bite, all that stuff). If I put my face close to his he'll lick and lick and lick. No teeth. Problem is this: twice already, in identical circumstances, he has nipped/ bitten me in the face with no apparent provocation. Hasn't touched my partner. Both times my partner and I have been sitting on the couch, with Buddy sitting between us. I might have been scratching his ears or something, but not really paying him any attention. With no warning (no bark, growl, whimper or shift in posture) he has lunged at my face and connected with teeth. First time I got a scratch under my chin, second time teeth connecting with nose hurt, but didn't leave a mark. The first time we both growled at him and my partner made him get off the couch. Second time I growled at him at held on to his muzzle for a few seconds (to create an uncomfortable sensation and demonstrate dominance, hopefully?) Problem is that we just can't identify what's causing the behaviour, and there are no triggers or warning that we can see, so we don't really know what to do by way of training. I'm of the opinion that it's behaviour that seriously needs to be stopped, as it comes without warning and could have some nasty consequences. Help?